Seventeen magazine has launched a new mobile application to help readers build a back-to-school shopping list and unlock deals.

With the Seventeen Shopping Insider companion app, users can scan more than 250 mobile-activated editorial fashion and beauty images as well as Seventeen-branded shopping bag icons to add items to their shopping list and access related content. Readers can also take advantage of exclusive mobile deals from Aeropostale, Guess, 2b Bebe, Bakers and others.

?One of our greatest strengths at Seventeen is our ability to drive our audience to retail,? said Howard Grier, associate publisher of marketing at Seventeen, New York.

?Our readers are literally never without their phones so the Seventeen Shopping Insider puts the drive to retail on steroids by creating a custom shopping list right on their mobile device while adding shopping incentives at the same time - it's the perfect bridge,? he said.

?Our readers love to pre-shop on their phones and voraciously consume content, looking at flipbook after flipbook.?

Seventeen, which is published by Hearst Magazines, reaches more than 13 million readers every month.

Back-to-school shopping
Seventeen?s goals for the mobile app include giving readers a way to customize their shopping lists for back-to-school, a busy shopping season for high school and college students. Additionally, the publisher wants to drive readers to purchase from its advertising partners.

Readers who download the app can scan almost any editorial fashion or beauty image as well as the shopping bag icons that appear throughout the editorial and advertising pages of the magazine. Digimarc digital watermarking technology is used to mobile-enable the images and Nellymoser built the app.

By scanning an image, users can add the item to their shopping list and recall it later on their iPhone. Users can also access style ideas in the form of mobile flipbooks and videos.

Additionally, users can access product information and click through to a sponsor?s Web site to purchase products.

The mobile exclusive deals featured in the app include $10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Aéropostale, 20 percent off full-priced items at G by Guess, 20 percent off full-priced items at 2b bebe, 20 percent off full-priced items at Bakers, three free trial-size samples of Biore complexion clearing products, a free gift with the purchase of NYC Big Bold Mascara and others.

There is also a social media integration, with app users able to share items on Facebook and Twitter.

The new app, which debuts with Seventeen?s back-to-school September issue, is available for free for the iPhone.

Supporting brand connections
Seventeen is promoting the app throughout the pages of the September issue. The publisher is also giving readers a chance to win a shopping spree by unlocking offers on the app.

Additionally, users can log onto the Daily Freebies section of the app to enter for a chance to win daily prizes.

The mobile companion app will help Seventeen to create an even stronger brand connection with readers and provide the publisher with important information about what readers find most interesting.

?To date, most magazine shopping apps assumed that readers would buy on the spot,? said Roger Matus, executive vice president of Nellymoser Inc., Arlington, MA. ?But, we find this is not always the case.

?Seventeen magazine readers often look for fashion and beauty ideas in the magazine,? he said. ?Typically, a reader might dog ear a page or use a sticky note to remember an item of interest."

?Shopping and sharing with a friend involved remembering to bring the magazine or the notes to the store - now, the reader simply scans an item and builds her shopping list in their phone. Of course, the phone goes everywhere.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York